Novel Applications of Biomedical Ultrasound in Rehabilitation
đź“… Date: March 18, 2025, at 4 pm CET (Duration: 1 hour)
đź’» Location:Â TBA
Speaker
Siddhartha Sikdar, PhD
Distinguished University Professor, Bioengineering
Director, Center for Advancing Systems Science and Bioengineering Innovation, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA
About the Talk
Many individuals are unable to fully participate in needed and desired life roles and activities due to chronic pain, physical disability or neuromusculoskeletal injury, which are some of the leading causes of disability worldwide. This talk will describe how recent advances in biomedical imaging and sensing have provided an opportunity to address critical gaps in diagnosis, monitoring and treatment for these disabling conditions. In particular, this talk will describe how recent disruptive advances in biomedical ultrasound technology, such as wearable ultrasound, are enabling new applications in rehabilitation.
Short bio
Dr. Siddhartha Sikdar is a Distinguished University Professor of Bioengineering at George Mason University and the director of the Center for Advancing Systems Science and Bioengineering Innovation. He leads an interdisciplinary research group that conducts translational and applied research using novel biomedical imaging and sensing technologies. In particular, he is studying the interactions between the central and peripheral nervous system and the musculoskeletal system in a number of clinical conditions of major public health significance, such as chronic pain, stroke, spinal cord injury, and amputation. The research has potential applications in noninvasive diagnosis, screening, and treatment monitoring, understanding underlying mechanisms of disease, and for developing assistive technologies to improve function and quality of life in individuals with disability. Dr. Sikdar obtained his PhD in Electrical Engineering from University of Washington, Seattle in 2005. He received a postdoctoral fellowship from the American Heart Association. Dr. Sikdar has been a recipient of the NSF CAREER Award, the Volgenau School of Engineering Rising Star Award, Mason’s Emerging Researcher/Scholar/Creator Award and was nominated for the Rising Star Faculty Award and the Outstanding Faculty Award of the State Council of Higher Education in Virginia. Dr. Sikdar’s research is funded by the NIH, NSF, and DoD.
An introduction to microwave imaging for medical diagnostics and monitoring
đź“… Date: January 14, 2025, at 11:00 AM ET (Duration: 1 hour)
🎥 Recording: Watch the seminar recording
Speaker
Prof. Lorenzo Crocco
Research Director, Institute for the Electromagnetic Sensing of the Environment, National Research Council of Italy (IREA-CNR)
About the Talk
Microwave imaging exploits the capability of electromagnetic waves of achieving information on a target without contact and in a non-destructive way. This is done by measuring and processing the perturbation of a known probing field induced by the target, which depends on the target’s morphology and electromagnetic properties.
Considering that electromagnetic waves in the microwave frequency range, can penetrate the human body to some extent and that electromagnetic properties of human tissue depend on their kind and pathological conditions, this principle can be exploited to pursue medical diagnostic tasks, such as for instance identification of malignancies or monitoring of physiological changes during treatments.
This seminar is aimed at introducing to a broad audience the basic principles of medical microwave imaging, some prominent applications and the technological challenges faced by researchers working in this field.
Short bio
Lorenzo Crocco is a Research Director at the Institute for the Electromagnetic Sensing of the Environment of the National Research Council of Italy (IREA-CNR), Naples, Italy. His scientific activities mainly concern electromagnetic scattering, with a focus on diagnostic and therapeutic uses of EM fields, non-invasive electromagnetic inspections, through-the-wall radar and GPR. He has published more than 120 papers, given keynote talks and lectures, and has edited two books on medical applications of electromagnetic technologies. Since 2021, he is among the World’s Top 2% Scientists according to the science-wide author databases of standardized citation indicators (single year, career). He has served as associate editor for the IEEE Journal of Electromagnetics, RF and Microwaves in Medicine and Biology (IEEE J-ERM) and has been Italian representative in the Management Committees of COST actions devoted to medical applications of EM fields (MiMed on microwave imaging and MyWAVE on therapeutic applications of electromagnetic waves). Since 2010, he is in the Scientific Board of the Italian Electromagnetic Society (SIEm). From 2017-2023 he was member of Board of Directors of SIEm. Since 2018, he is member of IEEE MTT Biological Effects and Medical Applications Committee (TC-28). Since 2019, he is a member of the Italian URSI Commission (International Union of Radio Science) and elected member in the Scientific Board of the Engineering Department (DIITET) of CNR. In 2018, he received the full professor habilitation in electromagnetic fields, by the Italian Ministry of Research and University. Since 2014, he is Board Member at European School of Antennas (ESOA) and he is among the organizers of the course on Microwave Imaging and Diagnostics and the course on Diagnostic and Therapeutic Applications of Electromagnetics. Since 2024, he is member of EurAPP Delegate Assembly as representative of Italy, San Marino and Vatican City. Lorenzo Crocco is IEEE Senior Member, URSI Senior Member, and Fellow of the Electromagnetic Academy (TEA).
Minimally-invasive image-guided cancer therapy: from the technology and modeling techniques to the clinical experience
đź“… Date: November 19, 2024, at 11:00 AM ET (Duration: 1 hour)
🎥 Recording: Watch the seminar recording
Speaker
Jason Chiang, MD, PhD
Interventional Radiologist, Faculty at UCLA
About the Talk
This lecture will talk about existing limitations in predictability and reproducibility with minimally-invasive image-guided cancer therapy, stemming from Dr. Chiang’s own clinical experience. He will then discuss how we can leverage engineering and modeling techniques to improve safety and efficacy of cancer therapies. This discussion will be tailored to engineering and medical students at all education levels.
Short bio
Dr. Chiang received his Bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Engineering with a minor in Mathematics from Johns Hopkins University. He then entered the Medical Scientist Training Program at the University of Wisconsin – Madison where he obtained his MD and PhD (in Biomedical Engineering) degree, with a certificate in Clinical Investigations. He completed his diagnostic and interventional radiology residency training at UCLA and stayed on as a member of the abdominal and interventional radiology section. Dr. Chiang’s clinical focus is on the diagnostic imaging and treatment of solid tumors with minimally-invasive techniques. He divides his time between vascular/interventional procedures and cross-sectional interventional procedures, with a focus on interventional oncology. His research interest is derived directly from his clinical experience, and his laboratory focuses on bridging the gap between bioengineering and medicine.